https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/01/sports/lebron-james-lakers.html
The biggest name in basketball is headed to Hollywood.
Through a short news release issued by his agents at Klutch Sports, LeBron James announced at 8:05 p.m. Sunday night that he would join the Los Angeles Lakers in free agency and sign a four-year, $154 million contract.
In what has become an every-four-years-ritual for the three-time N.B.A. champion, James has chosen to switch teams for the third time in his career, opting to leave his home-state Cleveland Cavaliers for one of the league’s glamour franchises.
After four seasons, four consecutive trips to the N.B.A. finals and one unforgettable title run in 2016 with the Cavaliers — in a city that had gone 52 years without tasting championship glory — James will play in the Western Conference for the first time. A native of Akron, Ohio, James began his professional career when Cleveland made him the No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 draft.
The Lakers have missed the playoffs for a franchise-record five consecutive seasons and failed in their attempts to lure the All-Star free agent Paul George away from the Oklahoma City Thunder. They have also been stymied in their efforts to convince the San Antonio Spurs to trade them the All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard, but none of that mattered in the end when it came to James.
The decision to sign with the Lakers and join a string of all-time greats to make that move west midcareer — including Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O’Neal — came much faster than James’s previous free agency declarations.
He waited until the eighth day of free agency in 2010 to announce his move from the Cavaliers to Miami in a widely panned television production known as “The Decision.” In 2014, James waited until the 11th day to reveal his plans to leave the Heat to return to Northeast Ohio in a Sports Illustrated essay titled “I’m Coming Home.”
Despite Philadelphia’s interest, it appears that the decision largely came down to the two cities where James, his wife, Savannah, and their three children have maintained homes; Los Angeles has been the summer base in recent years for the first family of Northern Ohio.